Full-body scanners? They may see you naked, but they aren't seeing large, …

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The TSA isn't the most respected of governmental agencies right now, but at least it comes by the poor reputation honestly. The lack of standards, inconsistent application of searches and policies, and occasional rude agent all combine to make flying an unpleasant experience. It's often derided as "security theater," which describes the experience of Mythbuster Adam Savage before a recent flight.

Savage was put through the full-body scanner, and while he joked that it made his penis feel small, no one seemed to notice the items he was carrying with him. The video tells the rest of the story.

And I notice I brought this thing with me...

If the TSA thinks you can hijack a plane with saline solution and nail clippers, Savage's 12" razor blades are the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Since the blades weren't anywhere near Savage's privates, they likely would have been missed by the pat-down as well.

Even with a 12" scary razor blade, you think a plane full of people scared they really will die won't boot you to a pile of goo and say "he tripped" when asked what happened? The whole thing IS a joke, you can't take over the plane anymore and it's not a desirable target. Problem 1 Solved. With the crowds pre-checkpoint compaired to the numbers on the the plane itself, you have a better target. Problem 2 created. Why can't we just have a "secure" flight vs "unsecure" flight where "secure" is the screen and "unsecure" is the classic metal detector and bag scan. What's so completely stupid is these machines are better replaced by a trained drug/explosive dog.

It's not surprising: a tube of thin metal strips in a bag with a laptop in it (if he was using one of the new scannable bags, especially) isn't going to look that much different than a laptop.

By what he said, he didn't have the blades on his person. Hell, he could've taped the blades to his macbook and nobody would've noticed.

Not surprising, and totally inexcusable. Why spend billions of dollars on scanners like these when there's massive low hanging fruit that is being completely ignored?

Hell, it'd probably be trivially easy to put a variety of metal weapons _inside_ a laptop (or just bring a dell and ignite it). Scanners wouldn't notice that, and even casual disassembly might not notice them if they're stuck creatively (not to mention, there's probably more than a few pieces of a laptop that could be fashioned into a blade).

I got my Swiss Army knife through by accident. I get back to San Francisco and I'm at my friends place, and i feel something in my jacket. My knife, it fell through a hole in the pocket and was in between the leather and lining. I did the same exact thing "What the fuck?! They let met get this through but put me through all that?! Fuck these guys!"

As well, on that trip they even swabbed my hands with wet cotton for "explosive residue". The first time the machine didnt read the swab, so they had to re-swab me (which as far as i know would diminish results since they already wetted my hands, thus wiping away any residue there).

Love MythBusters -- while it's true that they don't rigorously follow the scientific method, the show is still sweet....and Kari is easy on the eyes.

And cue the we-need-these-for-our-protection crowd in 3...2...1

she's a lot nicer looking after the baby and losing weight. she was chubby even before she got pregnant and now she looks more normal.

She was hot before she got pregnant and looked great while she was pregnant. Of course, I know some guys who won't touch their wives once they start showing, which is completely weird to me. Pregnant Kari = just as hot.

If we were really in any danger of "terrorists" public schools would be bombed constantly. After all, what better way to cause "terror" than to kill all of our educators and the future of "Amurka"? They would probably also target the libraries, the shopping malls, the airports (pre-screened areas), train stations, the train tracks themselves, etc.

Much ado about nothing, people. The government wants you scared because a scared populace is an easily controlled populace. The TSA is a farce and does nothing but make Chertoff money.

One of my friends made it from Boston to Detroit with a pocket knife in his carry on. He is white, so maybe they just didn't care enough to search too hard. I've never flown commercially in my life, but I really get the impression it's a joke.

Thanks guys, way to teach the terrorists (you know, those guys who as recently as this month tried to kill us) what to do.

If they just wanted to kill us they would plant a bomb in the huge lines that form while the TSA inspects our contacts and grabs our butts. Or they would go to a sporting event with less invasive pat downs. Or any number of any other things. You're not safe. No one is. The truth is terrorism just isn't that much of a threat compared to the rest of your day to day life.

Thanks guys, way to teach the terrorists (you know, those guys who as recently as this month tried to kill us) what to do.

If they just wanted to kill us they would plant a bomb in the huge lines that form while the TSA inspects our contacts and grabs our butts. Or they would go to a sporting event with less invasive pat downs. Or any number of any other things. You're not safe. No one is. The truth is terrorism just isn't that much of a threat compared to the rest of your day to day life.

I made it to the US and Canada with one of these (minus the corkscrew, which had broken off) in my wallet. The knife was still attacked though. Not the most threatening weapon, but this was post-September 11th and pre-body scanners (2003~4 ish).Flights from UK -> Canada, Canada -> Hawaii and Hawaii -> UK IIRC, or possibly just UK -> US and back, or all of those.

It did finally get noticed on a short local flight in the UK, but it had passed through many security checkpoints in various countries more than once.

Thanks guys, way to teach the terrorists (you know, those guys who as recently as this month tried to kill us) what to do.

If they just wanted to kill us they would plant a bomb in the huge lines that form while the TSA inspects our contacts and grabs our butts. Or they would go to a sporting event with less invasive pat downs. Or any number of any other things. You're not safe. No one is. The truth is terrorism just isn't that much of a threat compared to the rest of your day to day life.

Now Ben, we just will NOT put up with you injecting sanity into this discussion